Investors interested in Consumer Staples stocks should always be looking to find the best-performing companies in the group. United Natural Foods (UNFI) is a stock that can certainly grab the attention of many investors, but do its recent returns compare favorably to the sector as a whole? A quick glance at the company's year-to-date performance in comparison to the rest of the Consumer Staples sector should help us answer this question.
United Natural Foods is one of 183 companies in the Consumer Staples group. The Consumer Staples group currently sits at #14 within the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank gauges the strength of our 16 individual sector groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups.
The Zacks Rank emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find stocks with improving earnings outlooks. This system has a long record of success, and these stocks tend to be on track to beat the market over the next one to three months. United Natural Foods is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).
Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for UNFI's full-year earnings has moved 23% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company's earnings outlook is stronger.
Based on the most recent data, UNFI has returned 41.4% so far this year. In comparison, Consumer Staples companies have returned an average of -1%. As we can see, United Natural Foods is performing better than its sector in the calendar year.
Another stock in the Consumer Staples sector, Village Farms (VFF), has outperformed the sector so far this year. The stock's year-to-date return is 363%.
Over the past three months, Village Farms' consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 75%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
To break things down more, United Natural Foods belongs to the Food - Miscellaneous industry, a group that includes 42 individual companies and currently sits at #182 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have lost about 13.6% so far this year, so UNFI is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.
In contrast, Village Farms falls under the Consumer Products - Staples industry. Currently, this industry has 36 stocks and is ranked #174. Since the beginning of the year, the industry has moved -12.3%.
United Natural Foods and Village Farms could continue their solid performance, so investors interested in Consumer Staples stocks should continue to pay close attention to these stocks.
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United Natural Foods, Inc. (UNFI): Free Stock Analysis Report Village Farms International, Inc. (VFF): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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